Budget Week 2023 again held little in surprises, though a couple of deep disappointments for Noosa including the non-allocation for the expansion of the Advanced Manufacturing Hub at Sunshine Beach State High School. It is appreciated that cost of living has been a focus of this budget with electricity rebates and free kindy. However, there is the question of how this is funded. With a reported $1.721 billion increase in tax revenue, is this a case of taking in one hand from those who can ill afford, then provide it back on the other hand?

With a record net operating surplus of more than $12 billion, paying down debt is sensible. However, given what it is costing in support and health services for increased poor mental and physical health due to the housing crisis and ongoing fallout from COVID, much more should have been injected into housing from this surplus. In studies of homelessness, it was found that that the provision of housing actually costs governments and taxpayers less than these supports.

In amongst the many non-location specific announcements welcomed, is incentives for GPs and health care workers to relocate to Queensland, high visibility police patrols and improved access to emergency departments, surgery and mental health support. However, the devil is in the detail, namely where these will be funded, and in the coming weeks with estimates in August, we will know more.

It is a positive to see that there is additional funding in areas that we have been advocating for in relation to capability and competency building across the public sector, as envisaged in the Coaldrake Report. Of importance, is the increased role of the QLD Public Sector Commission as a system leader to ensure those capabilities are developed. May in that funding be the much-needed inquiries into the responses of government in relation to COVID, as Governments around Australia and the world have done, and the lead up to the housing crisis. We can only assess how to make improvements by doing this to avoid similar failings into the future.

Sandy’s full Budget Reply speech is available here,

All budget papers are available here, with Noosa specific allocations below.

If any Noosa Electorate residents have further questions, please feel free to email our office via noosa@parliament.qld.gov.au for us to investigate.

Noosa State Electorate Highlights

Education

$13,000,000 state-of-the-art School Hall for our Noosa District State High School Pomona Campus which is due to be completed in readiness for the start of the 2024 school year.

$350,000 for refurbishment of Block HA Hall – Sunshine Beach State School

$173,000 allocated across 8 schools for maintenance in schools throughout the 2023-24 financial year

$499,000 allocated across 8 schools for minor works in schools throughout the 2023-24 financial year

Tourism, Innovation and Sport

$200,000 to Noosa RAVC resort,  $300,000 to Kin Kins Mayan Farm, with Advance Queensland, innovation funding of $50,000 to Ordo Enterprises.

SEQ Water

With the project back on track, $1,000,000 of the total $127,000,000 for the Lake Macdonald Dam improvement has been allocated for project planning

Communities and Housing, Digital Economy, Crime and the Arts

$28,000 for Palliative Care State Programs

$1,400,000 for Noosa Shire Council as part of the Community Stimulus Program, $257,000 for the McKinnon Drive

Sports Facility, $110,000 for investigations into transit hubs, and $50,000 to assist the 3 Councils as part of Litter and Illegal Dumping

$500,000 for specialist homelessness services

Transport and Main Roads

$1,400,000 allocated in planning for Stage 2 of the Beckmans, Tewantin Bypass

$9,200,000 from the total spent of $22,500,000 for the Six Mile Bridge Replacement Project with its completion predicted for mid-2024.

$894,000 allocated for continued works on Pomona-Kin Kin Road